We knew this is coming, and now it’s official. I’m talking about Samsung a737, which is finally announced for AT&T (NYSE: T). Available in few different colors all with black accents, the new device sports HSDPA support, 1.3 MP camera, media player, stereo Bluetooth (A2DP), Video Share support, and of course the microSD memory slot. Sounds like an ideal music phone, especially when you consider AT&T is selling it for $49.99. That’s with a contract, but what the hack — I’m sure it will find a bunch of interested buyers…

[Via: Engadget Mobile]

Orange and TIM will be adding LG’s low-end 3G handset – LG KU380 soon. The device should be sold quite cheaply and is very small, measuring 96×45×17.9 mm and weighing 91 grams. Apart from the built-in 3G (UMTS) radio, the LG KU380 also sports triband GSM radio (900/1800/1900), 176×220px 262K color TFT display, 1.3 MP camera, Bluetooth, music player, 60MB of internal memory and of course the microSD memory card slot.

In a nutshell – the two carriers will introduce a stylish affordable 3G-enabled music phone. We don’t know the exact that, but Christmas time seems perfect for all new launches.

[Via: Unwired View]

Over at GeekTechnique, Mark Hoekstra prepared an interesting iPhone mod, bringing Apple (NSDQ: AAPL)’s handset back in the days of the “Think different” campaign. The end result is staggering — the black iPhone with the old technicolor Apple logo will certainly make your beloved device stand out from the crowd. Some people will think it’s Newton, but you’ll know it’s THE iPhone looking the way it should have looked.

Interested? Check out Mark’s step-by-step instructions from here.

[Via: Gizmodo]

This image is on the NokNok blog and the caption reads:

This is a sneaky pic of the next gen S60 software. It doesn’t show much, but we can assure you the interface is a real leap forward with some slick animation and cool features. Nice.

What does this look like to you? Here, let me help your creative juices flow:

This is Jaiku for S60. Jaiku, for those of you who might now know, is what happens when people who realized that every time you used Twitter god killed an angel decide to take matters into their own hands and create a web service that is actually useful. The second and third avatar in this screenshot are of Jonathan Greene, he did a kick ass video review of the application. Many of us were sad to see Google buy this Finland based company and people wanted to know why Nokia (NYSE: NOK) didn’t want to partake in the presence/microblogging revolution. Ever stop and think that the founder, Jyri Engeström, is a former Nokia employee? Maybe he didn’t want to go back?

Now that you’re up to speed, is it just me or do these two screenshots show the exact same thing? I never blogged my thoughts on the Jaiku/Google (NSDQ: GOOG) situation, but people have heard me say in private that Jaiku was not a difficult service to replicate. Google purchased Jaiku for the talent, not the user base.

I was having a coffee in Helsinki with my buddy Henrikki today, showing him the Nokia N81, when he seemed quite baffled to discover that I had 2 GMail icons in my applications folder. First of all why would you need such a thing? Simple, a lot of us have more than one GMail address. Why should we have to resort to logging in and out over and over again or using the browser for one account and the stand alone application for the other?

Thanks to copyright law (you will never hear me say that again) GMail could not become a registered trademark in the UK and Germany, instead they had to settle with the name Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Mail. When you go to http://www.gmail.com/app on your cellphone you see this:

Go ahead and download and install the GMail. Run it, configure it with your account information and now go back to http://www.gmail.com/app

This time click on “Are you in the UK of Germany?”

You will now see this:

Go ahead and download and install Google Mail. Run it, configure it and now you can have 2 GMail accounts accessing that most awesome Java GMail application at the same time!

Now as a feature request to the GMail team, please enable multiple account support and let us send attachments. A native S60 version would be a blessing since the current Java app takes ages to load.

We’ve reported this device multiple times, back when it was called the Juno, Will has all the information you need here including pricing, availability and what not. Watch the video to see if this might be the right device for you:

[Via: Phone Scoop]

Not enough credit is given to the people at Nokia (NYSE: NOK) who slaved day in and day out over a sweaty keyboard to write the millions of lines of code that went into close to 1 billion devices currently on the market. These developers worked hard to create platforms so that other people can build applications and give you, the user, the best possible experience. More than half the smartphones on the market now run S60, all of Nokia’s phones have leading edge J2ME implementations and the one resource for people wishing to build on that foundation is called Forum Nokia. Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) has something similar called Channel 9.

Channel 9 was originally created to show people “inside the beast” and remove the stigmata that the company was evil. Not only have they succeeded in that regard, but they’ve made people realize that Microsoft is an awesome company to be working for because it is filled with bright and passionate people. Form Nokia is starting small, they have one video up with various developers welcoming people to the relaunched portal. Here is hoping that they can share with the world some of the conversations I’ve been having over the past 4 months in cafeterias and meeting rooms all over Finland with extremely talented and passionate people.

You really do think of this company differently when you see the brand thru the eyes of the employees and the stories they tell instead of the consensus driven, board room spawned, marketing dribble force fed to us via PR Wire.

Good job on the relaunch Hartti!

Seniors get discounts for almost everything – movie theaters, restaurants, car insurance…you get the point. Now it seems AT&T (NYSE: T) is catering to the Sexagenarian set – that’s the 60-something year-old set, it has nothing to do with bedroom behavior (you perv). As our aging population grows, there’s a substantial market in simpler phones and lighter-weight rate-plans.

AT&T has just announced their “Senior Nation 200″ rate-plan for those that have at least 6 decades of genuine “experience.” Senior-citizens can expect 200 anytime minutes, 500 night/weekend minutes, and unlimited mobile-to-mobile minutes for just $30 a month. It’s a lightweight rate-plan, to be sure, but the plan is touted as the perfect offering for seniors that don’t talk a lot during the day or call off-network numbers (friends and family are most likely to be in AT&T’s mobile-to-mobile network).

Shiesters and scammers beware, AT&T will be verifying your age before allowing you to sign up with this rate-plan.

Source

We can’t say we’re either surprised or excited for the Samsung A517 to hit AT&T (NYSE: T)’s network, but hey, it is what it is. The Samsung A517 flip phone will be pulling EDGE-only duty on AT&T’s airwaves – it looks like the 3G support that we were expecting has been nixed from this mid-ranger.

And, as mid-rangers go, the Samsung A517 is right on target. The 1.3 megapixel camera is nothing to write home about, but the microSD card slot, A2DP Bluetooth support, and external music controls might make this thing appeal more to musicphone-lovers on a budget.

What kind of budget? The $50 (after contract and rebates) kind of budget – not a bad deal if you just want a phone that also plays music.

[Via: Mobile Burn]

Source

We mentioned some time ago that the Australian airline, Qantas, was testing in-flight cellphone use over Australian domestic airspace. Well, Qantas has announced that the trial run has been extended from it’s initial three-month window – it’s now slated to wrap up testing in February 2008. Qantas is apparently committed to bringing mobile phone use to the friendly-skies. And, as such, they will have a preliminary report on in-flight mobile phone use by year’s end.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) gave Qantas a 12-month trial window to conduct its test. “They figured they might as well use the entire period to evaluate customer responses,” Ms Williams said of Qantas’s technical team.

The Qantas trial has only allowed SMS text messages and e-mails – which is a great compromise. Weary jet-setters won’t have to worry about that annoying loud-talker taking the seat next to them. It looks like the rest of the world is set to allow in-flight mobile phone use of some sort.

[Via: PC World]